Why Not
by LizzieZ
Summary: Jane and Charlie are married now, and life will be different, but maybe not as bad as Elizabeth is expecting it to be...
1. Chapter 1

**Hey, something I was playing around with in my head. It's just a one-shot at the moment, but it might become a multi-chapter story, I haven't decided yet. Let me know what you think, if you enjoy it tell me because it gives me warm fuzzies, and if you have suggestions to make it better, tell me about those too!**

**Just to clarify, this is a Modern AU, diverging from the classic plot line when Darcy doesn't get the nerve to tell Lizzie that everything he did to help Lydia was for her, they just become friends (instead of realizing they both love each other) There you go!**

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Elizabeth Bennet did not lose control. She did not break down. Elizabeth Bennet did NOT cry.

Yet as the toast and cheering and dancing swirled around her, that is exactly what she was about to do. She had to get out of there. No one noticed her leave, everyone's attention was focused on Jane and Charles, who were both glowing with newly acquired marital bliss and making goo-goo eyes at each other. No one noticed her leave, except one person, who watched her leave the room, and followed after a moment later.

Elizabeth lengthened her stride the moment the ballroom was out of sight. Blinking away hot tears that were filling her eyes she pushed through the double doors, out into the gardens, breathing in the cool night air. Quickly she strode down the path until she found a bench tucked off to the side and collapse upon it, no longer able to keep her composure she let the tears fall.

This was ridiculous she chided herself. It's not like Jane died, or moved out of the country or something. Her sister was now iridescently happy and Lizzie was trying her best to be happy for her, and truly she was thrilled her sister and Charlie finally got together. But now Jane was married, and all the assurances in the world couldn't make Elizabeth feel like she hadn't just lost her best friend.

She heard footsteps, and a pair of shiny black shoes stopped before. "Elizabeth?" she inhaled sharply, and hurriedly attempted to wipe away the makeup she was sure was running down her face. "Elizabeth, are you alright?"

After a few moments she looked up into Darcy's concerned face, trying to keep a false smile from sliding off her own, "Will, hey, I'm fine, I just needed some air, it was really stuffy in there." Okay not her best lie.

He wasn't convinced and he sat down on the bench beside her. "Elizabeth, you're crying, what's wrong?"

They were friends now, since he'd reconnected Jane and Charles, and with all he'd done to help with the Lydia fiasco. When Lizzie had thanked him, he'd wanted to tell her it was all for him, he'd wanted to ask if she still felt the same way about him, about them, as she had last fall, but he just couldn't quite muster the courage to ask, but at least they had parted friends.

That friendship had grown as they fulfilled their roles as Maid of Honor and Best Man, helping Jane and Charlie plan the wedding. Late nights stuffing confetti into wedding invites and making most of the decisions for the all too good-natured couple definitely helped bring them closer.

Elizabeth sighed heavily, sniffing a bit, "It'd dumb…" she told him, trying to shrug it off. "It's just all these wedding emotions flying around, they've gotten to me is all, figures, I'm more like my mother than I thought!"

"Lizzie," He looked sternly at her, (he was the one person who called her Elizabeth normally, and Lizzie when he was being serious) "I can tell it's not that, please, you can tell me." He stared at her intently, and she could see he wasn't going to let it go, he really did care how she was doing.

"Jane-" the tears came back with a vengeance, "It's just she's married," Elizabeth sobbed burying her face in her hands again. "It's going to be all different now." She told him, her voice muffled. "We can't just stay in our pjs, eat Chinese food, and watch old movies for an entire weekend without talking to another human being. I won't be able to just go jump on her to wake her up in the mornings I miraculously wake up before her. I can't go talk to her at three in the morning about how our mother is certifiable and driving me insane. And I love Charlie, I really do, but I feel," she shook her head, "I feel like he's stealing my best friend, and I'm going to be all alone…"

Darcy wrapped his arm around her shaking shoulders, and Lizzie curled into his chest, her tears sliding down her face and dripping on what she was sure was a _very_ expensive suit. "It's going to be okay," he told her sincerely, "It will be different, but Charles is hardly going to lock your sister away from you forever now is he? I'm sure there is very little the man could do to keep the two of you apart, even if he had any desire to, which I assure you he does not."

"I know, I know, I'm being dumb." Elizabeth nodded, sniffling. She felt so embarrassed about Darcy seeing her break down like this, though the arm he had wrapped comfortingly around her was making her feel a bit less so (which was funny, she did not like to be touched, especially there). That arm (and maybe the flute or two of champagne she'd had close to pre-break down) was infusing her with warmth, and was slowing making the world seem less like it was about to end.

They sat in silence for a while and tears eventually subsided. Unwillingly Elizabeth drew herself to sit upright and unfortunately out of Darcy's embrace. "Thanks Will." She told him softly, smiling gratefully.

"Better?" He smiled gently; patting her back reassuringly, the way she arched slightly away from his hand escaped his attention, which was fixed on her face.

"Yeah." She nodded, though it sounded a bit like she was telling herself to be, "We should get back, Charlie looked pretty eager to escape when I left.

Darcy chuckled, a warm sound, as he stood up, offering his hand to help Lizzie up and escort her back to the reception. "Yes, I do think he wouldn't mind having Jane to himself. Your sisters, I believe, have been very diligent chaperones."

"On Dad's orders I'm sure." Elizabeth laughed, pulling her phone out from a pocket (because what vintage bridesmaid dress doesn't have pockets) to check her reflection in the screen. Her makeup wasn't as much of a mess as she had feared, and was quickly fixed.

She allowed Darcy to walk her back to the party, where the newly married Bingleys were indeed looking to depart shortly. "Lizzie, where'd you go? We couldn't leave before saying goodbye to you!" Jane told her, pulling her into as much of a bone crushing hug as the slight woman could manage, she was one of the few, if not the only person that Lizzie hugged like that. Jane glanced at Darcy and grinned, "Darcy was with you?"

"Yes, we were talking." Lizzie rolled her eyes, her sister was still convinced that Will loved her, though Elizabeth was fairly certain (and perhaps a little disappointed) that he thought of her only as a friend now. "Ugg I'm going to miss you!"

"We're only gone for two weeks; I'll be back in no time." Jane promised earnestly.

"You swear?" Lizzie asked, blinking away tears.

"On Cary Grant's perfect hair." Jane assured her, swearing on what they both acknowledged as flawless and forever.

"Love you!" Elizabeth squeezed her sister tight one last time before regretfully letting go of her.

"Love you too!"

Jane went to hug their Darcy goodbye, and Charlie walked over to Lizzie. "You take care of her, you hear." Elizabeth told him, side-hugging her new brother-in-law. "Otherwise you'll have me to deal with, okay?"

"I wouldn't dream of crossing a Bennet woman, former or present." He promised, knowing how hard it was for the two sisters to part.

"I knew my sister married a smart guy." Elizabeth gave a watery smile as "Bye!"

Charlie collected his bride from her father and fawning, sobbing mother, and the two of them walked arm in arm through a torrent of confetti, out the doors and to the waiting limo outside. Elizabeth watched them go and sensed someone coming up behind her. "They'll be back." Darcy told her, touching her arm comfortingly. "Don't worry."

"I know." Lizzie nodded, wiping a stray tear from her cheek. "Gosh I feel like my mother right now!"

"I think you're holding up a bit better." Darcy teased, looking towards the table where Mrs. Bennet had collapsed sobbing, Mr. Bennet patiently patting her hand and waiting for it to pass. "Though, Jane did leave me with very specific instructions for your care."

Elizabeth turned around to look at him confused. "What?"

"I'm serious," He said, taking out a piece of paper from his jacket pocket and reading from it, "Apparently if you have no other plans for tomorrow night we are supposed to watch either Sabrina or Casablanca, and then the next night we are supposed to watch something called Downton Abbey…" He let his eyes wander down the page. "She's made plans for us for every single day she and Charles are gone." His brow furrowed, "Though I am assuming some of these are jokes as it would be rather inappropriate for us to have a sleepover and you jump on me to wake me up…"

Elizabeth laughed, shaking her head; it took her a while to calm down enough to breath. "Oh Jane," tears of mirth ran down her cheeks as she held her sides. Darcy handed her the paper, to prove he wasn't making this up, and he wasn't. Jane's neat writing assigned an activity for the two of them every day, all things that Lizzie would miss. There were several nights where she and Darcy were to watch the sister's favorite old movies and British Television shows. Jane had even scheduled the pair to go shopping at vintage stores all over town, which was something the two girls did almost weekly. The next Saturday apparently Darcy and Lizzie were going to the theatre to see the modern take of Much Ado About Nothing, that she and Jane had been excited to see, tickets were already purchased in her and Darcy's name.

"So, do you have plans tomorrow night?" Darcy asked expectantly.

"You know you don't actually have to do this right?" Elizabeth told him, surprised by his question.

"Quite the contrary," He replied, completely serious, "Your sister made me swear to follow these instructions, though as I said already, I do think we'll forgo the sleepover. So shall I pick you up at seven? I do believe Georgiana has the assigned movies, we can watch it in the theatre room."

"Sure," Elizabeth smiled, "Why not," she shrugged, "I'll bring the popcorn."


	2. Chapter 2

Here's Chapter 2! I've decided to go along with the story, and thus had to spend some time flushing out some details, for example where it's set, and what Lizzie does and everything like that. This chapter isn't completely fantastic, but it's not too bad and it's something to continue to work off of! Again, if you like it tell me, if there's something you think would make it better tell me that too! Oh also I updated Ch 1, just little things, but it makes a slight difference!

Disclaimer: My work/ideas based off of Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice, so some of it's mine and some of it's her's.

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_Dear William,_

_She hasn't said anything, but I know that me getting married and us no longer living together is a hard on Lizzie. I'd like you to look after her while Charles and I are on Honeymoon. I don't want her to be all alone; especially now that she's living in our apartment by herself (she has a bit of a tendency to get buried in work and not leave the Lab when left unattended). I've made plans for the two of you that I know will cheer Lizzie up, and hopefully you'll enjoy too. Don't let Elizabeth talk you out of it! You're an important friend to her, and you being there (whether she wants it or not) will mean a lot to the both of us!_

_Love,_

_Jane Bennet Bingley_

_P.S. Charlie says to take care of his new sister!_

Darcy looked at the note in his hand which had been attached to the agenda Jane had written out for Lizzie and him to follow for the next two weeks. He'd made sure Elizabeth didn't see it when he showed her the agenda, he didn't know if her pride wouldn't allow her to play along if she believed that Jane didn't think she could care of herself. And Will wanted Elizabeth to go along with Jane's plan. Now that they no longer had wedding obligations to bring them together he was afraid of Elizabeth slipping out of his life. She may only want to be friends, while he still wanted something more. However if friendship was the strongest thing she felt for him, he'd gladly accept that. It was better than nothing.

William was sure the newlywed couple knew that he still cared deeply for Elizabeth, and he realized that Jane's mission here was most likely twofold. Darcy couldn't decide if it was a good thing that Jane felt the need to engineer reasons to put the two of them together or if it was just a reflection of how pitiable he was. She certainly had put them together at every opportunity during the wedding preparations, always assigning just the two of them to go off and accomplish as task. It had actually been really impressive to see Jane repeatedly out maneuver Caroline from joining them whenever the woman had attempted to attach herself to their assigned tasks. Jane must think he was a coward to no admit his feelings (if she could think anything so marginally unkind), but he wasn't sure he could take another rejection. To call the last time Will told Elizabeth how he truly felt about her a fiasco would be an enormous understatement.

Darcy tucked the note back into his pocket and got out of his car, which was parked in front of Elizabeth's apartment building. He prided himself on the fact he'd shown enough restraint to show up only 5 minutes early, especially as he'd been ready a full half hour before.

_"Care Instructions for Elizabeth Bennet"_ That is what Jane had named the list, with plans set for each day. Some were detailed activities, places to go, specific foods that Elizabeth preferred, etc. There were a few movie nights in the mix, all old movies, and on both Sundays they were to watch something called Downton Abbey. He had asked his little sister what that was, and she had squealed in delight, telling him it was only the best thing ever. That description hadn't helped him much, though Google informed him it was a British TV show set in the early 1900's, about a noble family and their servant. Darcy still wasn't sure as to why he should expect the full range of human emotions, but he reasoned that asking Georgie a second time wouldn't result in anything more helpful that the first time.

The plans for tonight were fairly relaxed:

_Watch Sabrina or Casablanca, just something with Humphrey Bogart_.

Darcy enjoyed old movies, which seemed to require much less flash bang boom than newer movies to keep his attention. And while he wasn't as much of a fan of black and white as the Bennet sisters, he did of course know who Humphrey Bogart was, and enjoyed his work. That and the prospect of spending the evening with Elizabeth had Will in a very good mood as he knocked on her door a few minutes later.

"COME IN, IT'S OPEN!" came the answering shout from within the apartment. Darcy opened the door to find Elizabeth in the kitchen, a huge bowl in her arms, popcorn strewn across the counter, as she stirred what looked like copious amounts of caramel into the already too full bowl. "Hey, sorry, my hands are kind of full." She smiled at him. Her hair had been hastily pulled back into a sloppy bun, an apron was tied around her waist (and covered with caramel), and music was playing loudly from a set of speakers, (80's music if Darcy wasn't mistaken). In short Elizabeth Bennet looked beautiful as always.

"Not a problem, do you need any help?" He asked, setting his coat on an armchair by the door.

"No, almost done!" she assured him, scraping the last of the caramel over the large bowl of popcorn. "I'll just finish this up, and then I need to change real quick, this apron didn't do its job as well as I had hoped."

"Well despite its uselessness, you wear it well." He complimented honestly, though through a self-trained response, made it sound teasing.

"I'm conflicted." She shrugged, looking down at herself, "It kind of makes me look like a fifties housewife. And while I love the vintage style, it kind of goes against everything I stand for as, well, me."

"You? But I always understood it that your only purpose in life is to cater to your future husband's every desire as soon as he shows up." Will teased dryly, yes William Darcy was teasing, that is the effect that Elizabeth Bennet had on him, much to his family and friends' delight.

"Oh yes, you know my PhD in Biomedical Engineering was totally just an MRS degree. What a pity, all that schooling was such a wasted of time, I didn't come away with a husband. My mother was so ashamed." She rolled her eyes. She adopted a dramatic, motherly, yet grating voice, "Elizabeth Maureen Bennet how in the world did you go through almost 8 years of science classes filled with attractive young men and not end up with a husband? Have I taught you nothing?!"

"You imitate your mother uncannily." Darcy observed, amused at the deftness with which she did so.

"Lots of practice, and I hear it a lot." She sighed, as she put the container that had held the caramel and the spoon in the sink and grabbed a lid for the Popcorn bowl from her cupboards, "I sort of had a break from it because Jane was getting married, but at the reception last night she was actually trying to set me up with one of the groomsmen, it was ridiculous! She's stuck in this utterly medieval idea that if a guy asks to dance with you more than once he wants to marry you."

Darcy instantly stiffened, though Elizabeth didn't notice, busy fighting the lid onto the bowl. As a guy, he knew that asking someone to dance more than once might not mean you intend to propose, but it does show interest. "Who was she attempting to connect you with?" he asked, trying to mask his true feelings on the subject with amused indifference.

"Charlie's cousin, Daniel. I mean nice guy and everything, but I'm not interested, and neither was he." She shook her head, and laughed, "You'd think my mother would notice that he was looking up the other groomsmen, not the bridesmaids. He's a divine dancer though, that's why we danced more than once."

"Ah, yes, Daniel," Darcy breathed an internal sigh of relief. He was worried it had been one of the other men of the groom's party, several of whom he'd heard ask Charlie if Jane's cute sister was single (Charlie being the good friend that he was, would glance up at Will, then say that she had been seeing someone for a while.) "Yes, he was quite bereft that his partner could not attend due to work schedules."

"Yeah, he was a bit loud about that, but somehow my mom didn't hear him complain." Lizzie shrugged, and then untied her apron, throwing it on a hook on the wall, "I'll just go change, be back in two seconds!"

Darcy just nodded in silent agreement, and just as promised, only a few moments later Elizabeth reappeared, having donned a pair of dark green cords and in a nice three quarter length sleeved tan blouse, cinched around her small waist with a brown skinny belt. She pulled on a pair of dark brown leather boots and they were off, Will opening all the doors for her between hers and his. That used to really throw Lizzie off, when he'd do that, though she was much more used to it since they'd so much time together. It was one of Darcy's quirks that made being in his company different, in a good way of course, than when she spent time with other guy, or the men she worked with in the lab, he was always a gentleman.

When they entered is apartment, he took her coat and told Lizzie she could go through to the theatre room and pick which movie to watch. She knew the way, and had been at his apartment plenty now that she was good friends with his little sister, Georgiana, despite being a older that the twenty year old by a good seven years. She found that several movies had been set out on the coffee table where she set the popcorn, all with Humphrey Bogart in them; a big smile graced her face before she sat down on the floor to make the difficult decision of which to pick. By the time Will came in carrying two glasses and a bottle of wine she had decided on Sabrina. It was always a classic, happier than Casablanca, and Lizzie in more of an Audrey Hepburn mood than a Katherine Hepburn mood, so The African Queen was out as well. Darcy agreed with her decision, not that he really cared what they were watching, as long as she enjoyed it.

Elizabeth poured the wine while he put in the movie; the projector system the Darcy's had rigged up was far too complicated for anyone not thoroughly familiar with its use to operate, even a trained scientist. They settled down on the couch together, the popcorn sitting between them, and their conversation came to a natural end as the opening credits rolled. They watched the movie in affable silence, each absorbed in the film, happy with the other's company.

While the evening was truly uneventful, it was also extremely enjoyable to be in each other's company. They watched the movie, ate popcorn, and sipped quietly on their wine. When the film did end, Elizabeth yawned and stretched dramatically, "Oh I love that movie!"

"It has rightly earned its position as a classic film," Darcy nodded, "Excellent choice."

"Thanks Will, for tonight. I know it's probably not how you planned to spend your evening, but this is really nice."

"I enjoy spending time with you Elizabeth, you know that right?" he smiled, a bit uncertain. "We are friends."

"Yeah, I know we're friends, but I also know you feel totally duty bound by Jane's request." Lizzie took a sip of wine as she rolled her eyes, as if to show that what she was about to say was ridiculous, "She seems to think if I don't have plans while she's gone I'll just live at the lab."

"You are very dedicated to your work. She has voiced concerns that you would bury yourself in it when she left." Will acknowledged. A slightly affronted look appeared on Lizzie's face. "It's not bad, but I also understand that your sister spent considerable efforts making sure you didn't overwork yourself."

Elizabeth's face softened a bit, "I know, it's just what I'm working on is so fascinating right now. And…" Her face looked a little sad for a moment, thinking of the empty apartment waiting for her, "…well, it doesn't matter. Yes, it was really sweet of Jane to insist we have plans." She looked at her watch; "Hey it's late, and well, I know tomorrows Sunday, but…" she trailed off, looking a bit sheepish.

"You'd like to stop by work?" Darcy answered smiling. He understood being a workaholic, though in his case, running a company was a much more portable job that working in a lab. He could take calls and make administration decisions from his home on the weekends, so he could spend time with Georgiana when she visited from college. Lizzie couldn't very well take her experiments home with her.

"Yeah," She nodded embarrassed, "we're trying a new treatment on the Boys, and I really want to see how they're doing."

"The Boys?" Will was a bit confused as he was fairly certain that Elizabeth wasn't testing on the human subjects.

"The lab rats, I call them The Boys." Elizabeth explained, continuing enthusiastically, "They're all male, but I'm not supposed to name them individually because of attachment and some other psycho-babble Jane was telling me about. So they're the Boys, and over the last month we've been administering a synthetic Vitamin D complex that should help inhibit some of the more aggressive aspects of M.S. It's showing some promising signs, especially recently."

"Ah yes, I see, well in that case I'll take you home, shall I?" Darcy nodded, understanding better. He couldn't help but to take a moment to appreciate the passion that lit up her face, especially her eyes, as she spoke of her work.

"If you don't mind," Lizzie nodded, and then arched an eyebrow at him, "And don't tattle to Jane, she hates it when I stop by on the weekends."

"Understood." He agreed, smiling. "I'd give you my Scout's honor, but I'm afraid I was never a boy scout. Camping was never really something that appealed to me."

Elizabeth laughed, "That's alright, a Darcy's Honor is probably worth more than the word of a twelve year old boy anyways!"

Elizabeth insisted on leaving the popcorn for Will and Georgie, who was out that evening. She then allowed Will to help her with her coat, and they headed out to his car. "So what did my dear sister plan for tomorrow night?" She asked, jovially as they sped through the night. It was quiet, and they were far enough away from the heart of Seattle that the roads were fairly empty and glistening beautifully in newly fallen rain that made the city sparkle.

"She has us watching the show Downton Abbey." Will told her. "Though, I'm afraid I'm not familiar with it."

"Oh I forgot about Downton!" Lizzie squeaked in excitement. "I can't believe I did! It's one of our favorites!"

"So I see," He commented dryly. "I understand from my sister that it's very good, though I was not able to extract any other information about it from her."

"Oh my gosh, it's fantastic!" Elizabeth gushed, "We'll do it at my place, I'll have it all set up and ready, and it starts at 9 if you want to come over a bit before then." She explained as Darcy pulled up to her apartment building. "You don't have to walk me up!" She insisted before he could argue, "See, Howard the Doorman is right there, I'm just fine! Goodnight Will, and thanks again!" she briefly kissed his cheek before slipping out of the car, his protests cut off by the door closing shut.

He still stayed put in his car until he saw the lights of her apartment flipped on. As he drove away, Darcy couldn't help the goofy grin that overtook his face. This evening had been wonderful, relaxed, and they had avoided the awkward moments that often besieged their interactions. He silently blessed Jane for being concern for her sister as he drove home, eagerly anticipating the next evening.


	3. Chapter 3

**I've been continuing to hammer out a plot line, so again I went back and edited the first two chapters for continuity's sake. Again it's just minor things, but they matter, and I threw a little editing in there too. Originally this chapter was supposed to be their Sunday night activity, but I put in some introspection and back story, and it kind of got away with me! Hopefully I'll post the next chapter soon! (Chemistry Homework allowing)**

**Read and Review, because I love you! (and it rhymed so I couldn't resist)**

**Disclaimer: My work/ideas based off of Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice, so some of it's mine and some of it's her's.**

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Sundays were Elizabeth's slow, relaxed days, when she didn't have twelve million things she had to do, and she usually loved the lazy feeling that pervaded the day. This Sunday morning she'd allowed herself to sleep in, waking up at eight, instead of her usual six-thirty. She ate her breakfast, sipping on her tea while reading a recently published case study on a genetic predisposition for an individual's body to limit its vitamin D absorption, and the detrimental effects that sprung from it.

When she'd finished, Elizabeth had started to clean the apartment. Cleaning in general had been rather ignored for the past two weeks, because of final wedding preparation, and the clutter that had accumulated to a point that offended her usually tidy nature. There was a pile of washed dishes on the counter, taken from the drying rack to make room, but not yet put away, a stack of mail and other papers was piled up in one corner of the counter, laundry covered one of the couches, some dead flowers sat in a vase on the mantle, a few cups and dishes could be spotted throughout the house, having been set down and forgotten.

Lizzie went through the apartment, gathering dishes, straightening stack of books, and picking up randomly discarded clothing. It felt eerily quiet to Elizabeth, normally Jane would be up, sewing, cooking, doing laundry, or, as of recently, working on some centerpiece for the wedding (the girl was like a walking Pinterest). Her folksy music would be playing on the sound system, with Jane singing along softly. But there was nothing, just lonely silence. Gaps on the shelves where Jane's books and photos had been, the corner of the living room where her sewing things were set up had been cleared out, and the doorway to her now vacant room, now all stared at Elizabeth, naked and empty.

As it had previously, the crushing feelings of loss and abandonment threatened to overwhelm Elizabeth. No, she thought shaking herself; she'd promised Jane that she'd be fine. "Shake it off Lizzie." She had commanded quietly, marching over to the stereo, finding her most upbeat playlist and turning up the volume, determined to drown out the sadness plaguing her as she had the previous evening. She kept herself busy and distracted for a while, but after two or so hours of cleaning and reorganizing things to fill some of the gaps left by Jane's departure, Lizzie knew she needed to get out of the apartment so she dressed and went to the lab to check on the Boys.

The weekend Lab tech informed her of the tests administered throughout the previous week (Elizabeth had taken it off for the Wedding) which showed that rats five through nine's nervous system cell deterioration had all declined by about ten percent. For some unknown reason rat ten's rate of deterioration had only lessened by about 5 percent. She'd only planned on checking into the lab for an hour or so, but time had gotten away from her. She had puzzled over the figures in her office for several hours when her phone rang. It was her mother.

Usually Jane was the one to text or call to check in on her when she stayed at work too late. "You're studying how important sunlight is, aren't you? You should get out of your lab and actually get some!" was one of Jane's go-to reasoning's. Or sometimes to make sure Elizabeth actually left, "I forgot to pick up something for dinner and Charlie's coming over in an hour" forcing her to wrap up and get the forgotten item from the store in a timely fashion. However Jane always managed to be so sweet about it that her concerns never felt like the nagging and thus Lizzie didn't mind the interruption. What she got from her mother however was a different matter entirely.

"Hey Mom," she answered tiredly, scrunching her forehead at the test results she was looking at, "What can I do for you?"

"Lizzie, where are you? I sent your sisters to your apartment to drop off leftovers from the reception and you weren't there. What are you doing?" Eleanor Bennet's shrill tones came over the phone causing Elizabeth to wince.

"Oh, sorry about that," She replied vaguely, continuing to study the figures before her. "I'm at the lab…"

"'The lab…'" Lizzie could hear the distaste dripping from her mother's lips. Mrs. Bennet disapproved of many, if not most all of the things that Elizabeth did; going to school in California instead of staying in Washington, not getting married while she was at college, and most of all how much time Elizabeth spent at her work. Her mother saw each moment that Lizzie spent in the Lab as another moment she could have been finding a husband.

As expected Mrs. Bennet launched into a litany of reasons why Elizabeth should not in fact be at her place of work, "Elizabeth Maureen, it is past seven at night on a Sunday, what are you doing in there? Why in the world do you spend so much time in that dismal place? You are much too like your father. How do you even expect to find a man if you never leave? How will you get a husband if you're too busy with test tubes and rats to get dinner on the table by five…" Elizabeth rolled her eyes at the nagging lecture, though a glance at the clock confirmed the time. She was indeed surprised to find it was almost quarter past seven.

"…And it's dangerous, with all those chemicals. You should know that after your accident." Lizzie instantly stiffened. No; her mother couldn't possibly be bringing this up. The mention of it made the scared skin covering her back and shoulder prickle, reminding her of its presence. "You'll get some other nasty acid or something all over you and it won't be somewhere you can cover up like the one you already have, and then what man will want to marry you? I mean really dear, even if Jane isn't competition anymore, you're not getting any younger, and then when the man sees how disfigured-"

Elizabeth cut her off sharply, "Mother!" She could let most of what her mother said roll of her shoulders, but the accident was something different and she couldn't believe that her mom would stoop so low. "The accident was not my fault and I would hardly consider myself disfigured. Not to mention the fact that I'm working with professionals in a professional lab with strictly enforced safety protocols. That was a Chemistry classroom, with a half drunken frat boy dancing around with an open bottle of Sulfuric Acid and a moon eyed Lab tech who was too busy flirting to notice that the idiot had gotten a bottle of stock solution. And the fact that I was intensive care for two weeks and rehab for nearly four months wasn't what you call a problem? No, it's the scarring you're worried about. I can't believe you!"

"Well, it's just something to keep in mind." Mrs. Bennet sniffed, sounding affronted. "I worry about your safety, that's all."

"Thanks Mom, but I'm busy, I've got to go." Elizabeth told her stiffly, trying to keep most of the anger out of her voice, and wanting to get off the phone as soon as possible. "I'll talk to you later."

"You are coming to dinner Wednesday, right?" she asked before Lizzie could hang up. "A lovely gentleman from the reception is coming. You caught his attention, and he asked Mary about you. He's actually Mr.-"

"I'll talk to you later mom, bye." Elizabeth snapped, and hung up the phone. Weekly dinners, she'd forgotten her family did that, the last few had been canceled because of wedding plans, appointments, and what not. Elizabeth loved her family she really did, from a distance that is.

The dinners were always the same; Jane would make some adorable dessert or side dish (again the woman was a walking Pinterest), their mother would question every serving her daughters took "Do you really want seconds?" "Are sure your waistline can take another piece of pie?" "Men don't want a wife who eats more than he does."

Jane would take it all with her signature sweet smile, patting Lizzie's leg under the table, and listen patiently on the way home as Elizabeth enumerated all the reasons their mother should be institutionalized. "She thought it was unnatural that I was a vegetarian for three years, yet she's totally fine with Lydia and Kitty only eating purple foods?" "Why the hell does she cook so much if she thinks I'm going to get fat?" "What exactly is domestic about Jello based dishes? They're so wrong in so many ways!" Jane would nod sympathetically, when they got home, she'd make tea, or pour wine depending on how upset Lizzie was, and sit there sipping quietly until Elizabeth mellowed. Then Jane would gently remind her that their mom really did love them, she just worried, and other sensible, if not overly forgiving statements. There would be no Jane Buffer this family dinner. The thought instantly caused Lizzie's shoulders to bunch up with anticipated tension; she was dreading the upcoming evening less than usual.

The only good thing to result from her mother's call was that Elizabeth realized the time. Darcy would be coming over to watch Downton Abbey a little before nine, and she still needed to go grocery shopping.

Lizzie was looking forward to Darcy coming over. The apartment was too quiet and well, she had begun to rather like spending time with him (not that she dare admit it after her smack down rejection of him over a year and a half ago).

He's attractive, that's for sure, she mused as she wandered through the grocery store, and as it turns out, he's funny when you can break him out of his shell. Lizzie's respect for him had grown the more she'd seen him at her internship at Pemberly Pharmaceutical. For a Not-Nerd type, he interacted very well with his company full of gifted, and often eccentric, introvert scientist.

And then of course with all he'd done for Lydia when George Wickham had tricked her into moving drugs for him. Ugg, just the thought of that man, if he deserved the word, made Elizabeth tense, and she was lucky that it was a bottle of wine she was holding, and not something more crushable. But again, thanks to Will's intervention, Lydia had been proven innocent, and she had been able to provide the authorities with information about Wickham's misdeed, including evidence that pinned him to several unpleasant murders (some of Wickham's previous employee's who'd been caught skimming funds, or product). Yeah, Will had fixed all that, and repaired his screw up of convincing Charlie to leave Jane. Elizabeth had absolutely no reason to dislike him as she had before.

And, with all the wedding prep, cake tastings, picking theme, colors, music, and the menu, making centerpieces, organizing seat assignments, and mother soothing, they'd spent a lot of time together. A small bit of her (that she tried valiantly to quash, with no avail) regretted that she'd rejected his offer of a relationship. She'd judged and assumed so much about him, before she'd hardly even known him, all because of some stupid comment she'd overheard. Elizabeth felt like a fool and a jerk, to say the least, about how she had acted towards him and what she'd said about him to others.

Pity he'll never like me like that again, she thought, exchanging Jane's sweet tea cookies for the savory cracker she found out he liked and putting them in her filling shopping cart. Despite her initial protests that she did not need to be babysat while Jane was on Honeymoon, she was silently grateful for the ridiculous list her sister had pressed upon Darcy. Jane knew Lizzie would be lonely, and she was right. Lizzie hadn't lived alone since before the accident, and Jane had always been right there for her. She knew this was a natural progression; that one day Jane would get married to some amazing guy, and they would stop living together.

What Lizzie hadn't expected was the sinking feeling that she'd be alone forever. When Darcy had found her in the gardens during the reception, she'd been mortified, (she hated people seeing her cry, it made her feel weak). But he'd been so sweet, and he'd made that abandoned feeling go away a bit, same with the previous night, watching the movie. It's not like they had some deep philosophical conversation or anything, he'd just been comforting. Will hadn't mentioned her reaction to when he touched her back and shoulder, like he hadn't notice it. Lizzie made sure to always have her scars covered, and was fairly certain that Will knew nothing about the spill, she didn't want anyone's pity, but she felt a bit bad shrugging away from the comforting touch he'd offered. He'd helped her feel less alone, and she was grateful for it.


End file.
